Known for clever packaging that becomes part of the play, Janod invites us into a new such experience at the farm! Lift off the barn’s roof and peek inside to discover 4 nested boxes that become home for the stand-up wooden figures–horse, cow, bunny, rooster and farmer. This farm grows with kids 1-3 as it can be a simple stacking toy and advance to learning numbers, describing scenes on the homes and using the props for pretend play as the child gets older. My 3 year-old friend played for a long time, gathering the animals and farmer to participate in activities, visit each others’ homes and play at the farm. Lots of language is stimulated as kids count and associate numbers as they stack the homes by size, match the figures to the activities illustrated on the side of their houses, and chat about the farm pictures. The horse had a nibble of hay pictured in a trough and the bunny stole some lettuce from the garden. The horse’s cube illustrated the hay growing and being harvested, the chickens had a cluster of hen houses, the bunnies slept in hutches or roamed free in the vegetable garden, and the farmer invited everyone in to his large farm house! The wealth of varied illustrations and fun compartments to put animals in and out, make this toy a great language enriching vehicle for kids to generate stories and pretend play.
Available at Amazon. Click here
